The Song of the Lark, by Willa Cather

Virago has done notable service in bringing Willa Cather's novels back into print, including such masterpieces as Lucy Gayheart. This one, published originally in 1915, begins with her customary American small-town setting and probably is part-autobiographical, except that the heroine, Thea Kronberg, becomes a famous singer rather than an author. Compared with the economy and sureness of her later novels, it often seems prolix and loose in style, even though the Virago text is a revised edition, embodying many cuts made by Cather herself. Cut or uncut, the book still seems a little long for its content and was obviously written quickly. But it has many virtues, including Cather's sensitive, level-headed insights into feminine psychology and her wryly humorous knowledge of smalltown and rural life.